Goodspeed published numerous histories around the turn of the 20th Century and before. They have a very good reputation and they are reliable as a source. I've combed through the Mississippi one of the publisher and it is a lofty historical source document, with info possibly not available elsewhere. Other historians quote the Goodspeed books in their bibliographies. For example, the first Director of Mississippi Archives & History, Dunbar Rowland, also a prolific writer, quotes the Goodspeed publication in his bibliographies. The Table of Contents help. Many of the books have an index.

It is amazing that after all the years of searching genealogy libraries, these text are now available at no cost to everyone. It is the intent of www.archive.org, AKA Internet Archive, to make books available to everyone, all kinds. For me this advances free speech; it does that for me. And they need our help.

Just this month I joined the site and set up a monthly payment. It only took 3 minutes. It was organized through amazon.com, (and they are good at such things, of course.) It felt good to join a cause that is helping me so much. It is good energy to give what I can, so easily. Let's join the cause, making sure that greater free access will continue to exist at this special site.

From the publisher of "Autobiography & Stories of Henry P. Lewis, Itinerant Minister" (of Mississippi)